Clod Ensemble and Nu Civilisation Orchestra present a new perspective on Charles Mingus’ iconic 1963 recording The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Part of the 2023 EFG London Jazz Festival, this show will transform the Grade II-listed Shoreditch Town Hall into a vibrant cabaret venue to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the album.
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is a seminal 20th century jazz composition. Bursting with melody and raw emotion, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady frequently features in “greatest albums” lists, including Robert Dimery’s book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. More than sixty years on from its initial release, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is still regularly cited as the finest hour of trailblazing bassist, bandleader and composer Charles Mingus.
Mingus always envisioned dance accompanying his provocative masterpiece. To honour that vision and to bring Mingus’ music to life for a new generation, Clod Ensemble have joined forces with Nu Civilisation Orchestra, who will be led by the MOBO-nominated Peter Edwards and feature NCO Founder/Artistic Director Gary Crosby OBE on bass. The professional ensemble of the acclaimed talent development organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors, Nu Civilisation Orchestra has toured and performed extensively, including a BBC Proms performance in 2019, a UK tour in 2021 of Whats’s Going On a tribute to Marvin Gaye’s seminal masterpiece, and an acclaimed national tour of Joni Mitchell’s Hejira and Mingus albums in 2022.
At Shoreditch Town Hall, Clod Ensemble’s dancers will fill the venue with movement and energy, delivering both dense-knit choreography and passages of improvisation which dovetail with the band. Deploying the same daring, bold approach that has characterised Clod Ensemble’s work since the company launched in 1995, the show will feature movement from celebrated dancers such as Valerie Ebuwa and Faye Stoeser.
This performance also gives audience members the chance to move along with the music in celebration of Mingus’ composition. With dancers, band and audience all sharing the floor, attendees have the opportunity to get up close to world class performers and lose themselves in dancing along with this rhythmically explosive work. Wallflowers, hip-shakers, Mingus buffs, music-lovers of all stripes – all are welcome in this celebration of the sensuality and power of jazz.
This unique live collaboration of The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is the culmination of years of fruitful collaboration between Clod Ensemble and Nu Civilisation Orchestra based around Mingus’ album. Notable dates in this include the 2022 EFG London Jazz Festival event in which Clod Ensemble’s film adaptation of The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady was screened as well as a 2020 listening party, hosted at Shoreditch Town Hall and broadcast remotely during the Coronavirus lockdowns.
In addition to Mingus’ work in full, the shows will also feature performances of new music from Peter Edwards, Clod Ensemble’s Artistic Director Paul Clark, and rising drummer/composer Romarna Campbell (current live drummer for Fever Ray).